Walter Murphy

Walter Murphy (born December 19, 1952) is a pianist, composer, and arranger who had a massive hit with the instrumental, "A Fifth of Beethoven," a disco adaption of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, in 1976, when disco was at the height of its popularity.

Murphy was born in 1952, in New York City, New York, and grew up in Manhattan. He attended the Manhattan School of Music there, where he studied jazz and classical piano. After finishing school, Murphy served as an arranger for Doc Severinsen and the Tonight Show Band, before becoming a jingle writer.

In the early 1970s, Murphy became interested in adapting classical music into disco songs and coming out with hits, after seeing two songs of different genres based on composer Johann Sebastian Bach's music, "Joy" by Apollo 100, and "A Lover's Concerto" by the Toys, become popular. To try to attain this feat, Murphy made a demo tape with disco adaptions of several classical and neo-classical works in it, and mailed it to every record label in New York City. The response was unimpressive, and only a rendition of Ludwig Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5 In 'C' Minor" generated any interest amongst the various labels. This interest led to the owner of Private Stock Records, Larry Uttal, giving Murphy the chance to record the rendition, which was creatively dubbed "A Fifth Of Beethoven."

Even though Murphy played nearly every instrument on the instrumental his record company cautioned that the record would stand a better chance if it was credited to a group rather than an individual. To Walter's annoyance, they came up with the name Walter Murphy and The Big Apple Band, only to discover two days after its release that there was already a Big Apple Band. The name on the label was changed to The Walter Murphy Band and then simply to Walter Murphy.

The song when released entered the Hot 100 at number 80 on May 29, 1976, and took 19 weeks to reach number 1, where it stayed for one week. Early in 1977, it was licensed to RSO Records for inclusion on the soundtrack to the movie, Saturday Night Fever. The second single from the album, "Flight '76," based on Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee," didn't fare as well however, only reaching 44 on the Hot 100.

His next release was a 12" single, "Rhapsody in Blue," which featured "A Fifth Of Beethoven" on the b-side that sold somewhat well, possibly due to the b-side. A second 12" single of "Gentle Explosion," failed to make the club or radio charts in 1978. A move to RCA in 1979 produced one more 12" single, "Mostly Mozart," which proved that Murphy had taken this concept as far as it could go. His last chart entry was in 1982 with a medley of "Themes From E.T. (The Extra-Terrestrial)" which climbed to number 47 on the Hot 100.

Since then Murphy has gone back to jingle writing, and has written music for numerous TV shows including Family Guy and its recent offshoot album, Family Guy: Live in Vegas. The song "You've Got a Lot to See", composed for the Family Guy episode FG317 "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows" won the award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics at the 2002 Emmy Awards.

Music Credits

 * Good Morning USA


 * Pilot (American Dad!)
 * Roger Codger
 * Francine's Flashback
 * Homeland Insecurity
 * Deacon Stan, Jesus Man
 * All About Steve
 * Stan of Arabia: Part 1 and 2
 * Roger 'n' Me
 * Iced, Iced Babies
 * Lincoln Lover
 * Four Little Words
 * When a Stan Loves a Woman
 * Meter Made
 * Big Trouble in Little Langley
 * Tearjerker
 * Oedipal Panties
 * Stanny Slickers 2: The Legend of Ollie's Gold
 * The One That Got Away
 * One Little Word
 * Phantom of the Telethon
 * Chimdale
 * Family Affair
 * Bar Mitzvah Hustle
 * Every Which Way But Lose
 * Weiner of Our Discontent
 * Daddy Queerest
 * Moon Over Isla Island
 * Man in the Moonbounce
 * Rapture's Delight
 * The Return of the Bling
 * Great Space Roaster
 * 100 A.D.
 * Best Little Horror House in Langley Falls
 * Stan's Food Restaurant
 * The People vs. Martin Sugar
 * For Whom the Sleigh Bell Tolls
 * School Lies
 * Hurricane!
 * The Scarlett Getter
 * Season's Beatings
 * The Unbrave One
 * Stanny Tendergrass
 * Stan's Best Friend
 * Toy Whorey
 * Love, American Dad Style
 * Killer Vacation
 * Adventures in Hayleysitting
 * Finger Lenting Good
 * The Adventures of Twill Ongenbone And His Boy Jabari
 * Max Jets
 * Spelling Bee My Baby
 * The Missing Kink
 * Da Flippity Flop
 * Steve and Snot's Test-Tubular Adventure
 * Poltergasm
 * Buck, Wild
 * Kung Pao Turkey
 * Independent Movie
 * Faking Bad
 * Minstrel Krampus
 * Vision: Impossible
 * Familyland
 * Cock of the Sleepwalk
 * Introducing the Naughty Stewardesses
 * I Ain’t No Holodeck Boy
 * Stan Goes On the Pill
 * Honey, I'm Homeland
 * She Swill Survive
 * Rubberneckers
 * Permanent Record Wrecker
 * News Glance With Genevieve Vavance
 * The Longest Distance Relationship
 * Roger Passes the Bar
 * A Boy Named Michael
 * Blagsnarst: A Love Story
 * Scents and Sensei-bility
 * Big Stan on Campus
 * Dreaming of a White Porsche Christmas
 * LGBSteve
 * Morning Mimosa
 * My Affair Lady
 * The Shrink
 * Holy Shit, Jeff's Back!
 * Hayley Smith, Seal Team Six
 * N.S.A. (No Snoops Allowed)
 * Stan Smith as Keanu Reeves as Stanny Utah in Point Breakers
 * Kiss Kiss, Cam Cam
 * The Devil Wears a Lapel Pin
 * Stan-Dan Deliver
 * The Dentist's Wife
 * Widow's Pique
 * Daesong Heavy Industries II: Return to Innocence
 * Criss-Cross Applesauce: The Ballad Of Billy Jesusworth
 * Gift Me Liberty
 * Next of Pin
 * Standard Deviation
 * Father's Daze
 * Fight and Flight
 * Bahama Mama
 * Roger's Baby
 * Whole Slotta Love
 * The Witches of Langley
 * A Nice Night For a Drive
 * Julia Rogerts
 * The Bitchin' Race
 * Family Plan
 * The Long Bomb
 * Paranoid Frandroid
 * The Census of the Lambs
 * (You Gotta) Strike For Your Right
 * Klaustastrophe.TV
 * The Never-Ending Stories
 * Railroaded
 * Mean Francine
 * One-Woman Swole
 * The Legend of Old Ulysses
 * Twinanigans
 * Fleabiscuit
 * Fantasy Baseball
 * I Am the Jeans: The Gina Lavetti Story
 * Jeff and the Dank Ass Weed Factory
 * Lost Boys
 * Wild Women Do
 * Mom Sauce
 * Hamerican Dad!
 * Enter Stanman
 * No Weddings and a Funeral
 * 100 Years a Solid Fool
 * Downtown
 * Tapped Out
 * One Fish, Two Fish
 * Trophy Wife, Trophy Life
 * Game Night
 * Ghost Dad
 * Men II Boyz
 * Roger Needs Dick
 * The Old Country
 * Businessly Brunette
 * 300
 * Who Smarted?
 * Klaus and Rogu in "Thank God for Loose Rocks": An American Dad! Adventure
 * The Wondercabinet
 * Mused and Abused
 * Comb Over: A Hair Piece
 * The Sinister Fate!!
 * Cry Baby
 * Crystal Clear
 * Steve's Franken Out